Please ask us for presentation references

Techniques for collecting and installing live stakes and cuttings, Forterra, Tacoma, WA, December 2012 and 2014. A half day instructional field day with volunteers and staff members, teaching harvesting and installation techniques.

Plant Propagation, South Puget Sounds Community College Horticulture Program, Olympia, WA, Fall quarter 2014. Nursery manager, Ned McGinley split his time between the nursery and twice a week at the college teaching students plant biology and propagation techniques.

Native plant restoration for Watershed Stewards, WSU Cooperative Extension, Vancouver, WA, March and October of 2012. Two half hour lectures.

Wetland and Upland Habitat Restoration Design, Coastal Training Program Washington, Mt. Vernon, WA, May and September 2011. Co-taught with Dyanne Sheldon. This two-day course for restoration professionals emphasizes practical assessment and design skills to help project designers translate their ecological knowledge into restoration projects that will succeed. Course covers all details of project design and implementation from site analysis to monitoring and adaptive management.

Native Plant Propagation and Native Plants in Urban Landscapes, South Puget Sound Community College Horticulture Program, Olympia, WA, April 2008, 2009 and 2014. A two hour lecture and nursery tour for students in the horticulture program.

Propagation of Native Plants and Integrated Pest Management, South Puget Sound Community College Horticulture Program, Olympia, WA, November 2007. A two hour lecture and nursery tour for students in the horticulture program.

Stream Habitat Restoration Guidelines, WA State Dept. of Ecology Coastal Training Program, around the state, September – November 2007. A 2 day course with lecture.

Urban Environmental Restoration, International Training Centre (IUTC), Seoul, South Korea, July 2007. Susan Buis co-taught this course addressing urban ecology, project planning, invasive plant control, site maintenance, adaptive management and more. Attended by both professionals, mostly engineers and landscape architects, and graduate students, this six-day course coordinated by the Director of the IUTC, Professor Kwi-Gon Kim of the Seoul National University, included both classroom sessions and a two-day field trip. Field sessions offered feedback on existing projects during installation and approaches for new sites slated for restoration. The United Nations Habitat Program sponsors the IUTC. Co-teachers included staff from King County and Adolfson/ESA.

Workshop participants and teachers along the Cheonggye River, Seoul, a $900 million urban river daylighting project completed in 2005.

Wetland and Upland Habitat Restoration Design, University of Washington Engineering Professional Program, Seattle, WA, and Washington Coastal Training Program, presented annually 2002 – 2007. Co-taught with Dyanne Sheldon. This two-day course for restoration professionals emphasizes practical assessment and design skills to help project designers translate their ecological knowledge into restoration projects that will succeed. Course covers all details of project design and implementation from site analysis to monitoring and adaptive management.

Shoreline Management and Stabilization Using Vegetation, Coastal Training Program Washington, Olympia, WA, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2016. A one-day workshop on bioengineering solutions for shoreline management. Handouts addressing background information, site assessment, project planning, vegetation/species selection, site preparation and installation were provided. A field trip included visiting a recently completed streambank stabilization project and a ten-year old slope stabilization planting.

Writing Effective Plant Specifications for Restoration and Mitigation Projects, Society for Ecological Restoration Pacific Northwest Chapter annual conferences, 2003 and 2005. An eight-hour workshop focused on information needed to write or review good plant specifications. Topics included species selection, plant sources, plant forms, project types, pest and disease inspection, transportation, storage, guarantees, mulch, and fertilizers. Container-grown and bare root plants were available for hands-on lab. Attendees received a CD with a set of master specifications and handouts on related topics such as genetic provenance, calculating planting quantities, plant bid requests, and conditions for outplanting success.

How to Evaluate and Condition Wetland and Mitigation Design Plans, University of Washington Engineering Professional Program, Seattle, WA, 2003. Co-taught with Dyanne Sheldon. A two-day course covered a variety of tools to assist planners and others in reviewing and writing effective conditions for wetland and upland design plans. Topics ranged from choosing mitigation sites through reading grading plans, understanding plant specifications and correlating monitoring methods to performance standards. Handouts, including a CD, were provided.

Graduate Student Guest Lectures, University of Washington, presented frequently since 1999. Two-and-a-half hour lectures on a variety of topics concerning practical aspects of restoration project design and implementation, including plant selection and specifications, installation timing, maintenance issues, proper planting techniques, plant salvage, live stakes, and seed collection and propagation.

Propagation Workshop,botany program at The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA, 2002. Two hour presentation on propagation techniques for native plants. Emphasis on challenges particular to native plant propagation and native plant industry. Also discussions of plant biology that makes vegetative reproduction possible; included demonstration of taking cuttings and hands on experience for participants.

Installation Specifications, Society of Wetland Scientists Conference, Hood River, OR, 2001. Full day workshop on improving installation specifications for native plant restoration projects. Topics included soil preparation, planting techniques, fertilizing & mulching, inspection, guarantees, maintenance, and more. Handouts and master specifications provided. Emphasis on real-world problems and solutions and remedying common problems that can delay projects, increase costs, and reduce success rates.

Restoration Techniques and Processes,The Starflower Foundation, Seattle, WA, 2000. Custom-designed half-day workshop on native plant restoration in public parks with project conditions such as aesthetic requirements, compacted soils, lack of irrigation, freedom to experiment, and up to five years of maintenance possible. Topics addressed included species selection, poor soils, plant sizing and density, weed control and maintenance, mulching, timeline/phasing, planting methods, and cover crops.

Plant It Right,Washington State University Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program, Olympia, WA, 2000-2001. Provided technical information and narration for video and fact sheet on planting techniques.

Planting Training and Supervision, the Olympia Zen Center, Olympia, WA, 2000. Provided on-site consulting and supervision during volunteer planting for wetland mitigation plan. Facilitated problem solving on species selection and plant placement considering aesthetic and plan requirements. Demonstrated planting techniques and worked with volunteers throughout the day.